Mark T. Smith illustrated an article for Briefings Magazine about Kickstarter.com, a platform that allows emerging artists to source funding for themselves and bypass the painful process of negotiating with major record labels.

Thomas Pitilli’s first children’s book project is tied into the thoroughly modern, interactive musical storybook app, Mibblio. Collaborating with New York City's afterschool arts and music program, Wingspan Arts, Thomas presented the children with a simple black and white image of a boy and his dog, kicking off the creative story telling sessions with students voicing imaginative ideas and infinite possibilities.

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Davide Bonazzi created this elegant commentary on the Barilla Pasta Company’s assertion that their advertising will only feature “the traditional family” and that if gays don’t like it, “they can always go eat someone else’s pasta.”

Zara Picken worked with the agency Giants and Gentlemen to create a series of illustrations for Scaddabush, a new Italian restaurant in Ontario, Canada. The artwork is being used in many forms, including print and online.

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Chuck Gonzales created the characters and illustrated the book for The Dwarf in the Drawer….the very funny spoof of the bestselling Elf on the Shelf phenomenon. Publishers Weekly
says: “Chuck Gonzales’s loosely rendered cartoons play up the humor of
the verse, giving the elf a sinister leer and emphasizing the exhaustion
of the mixed-race family under his watchful eye”.

Buy a copy of this new holiday classic (complete with drawer-ready plush dwarf included in the gift-box package) in Theispot.com Bookstore!

Stuart Bradford created a series of illustrations for Fortune magazine’s special issue featuring “100 Fastest Growing Companies.” The yearly list examines which industries and corporations are up and down, providing detailed statistics on recent business history, market conditions and more.

James Yang’s recurring illustration series for CFA magazine yields a secret reward for the observant reader: James uses the same everyman character for all stories, to create a sense of continuity. This illustration was for an article about making plans reality.

Taylor Callery was super-busy least week with illustrations for The Wall Street Journal, Phoenix Magazine, and Advertising Age. The millennial generation has consumer technology figured out, according to the WSJ. They keep costs to a minimum while their parents pay hundreds of dollars a month on cellphones, cable or satellite TV, and internet services.

Shaw Nielsen shares a series of Halloween-themed illustrations he created for Publix supermarkets, including several costumed kid characters; seasonal backgrounds that the characters could be placed on; and artwork that could be wrapped around bins filled with various candies.

Jason Mecier continues his Celebrity Junk Drawer Pop Portrait series with this image of Long Island Medium's star, Theresa Caputo. "I went off the color scheme of the items she sent me but I also wanted to give the portrait a supernatural feel,” says Jason. “Her face literally glows in the dark!"

Brian Taylor created two Emmy-related illustrations for Variety magazine recently. The first one is about the battle for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series; the second is about a writer who missed covering the Emmys for the first time in 25 years due to the birth of his son.

Keith Negley’s illustration for the New York Times Op Ed accompanies a piece about schizophrenia, pegged to the Washington Navy Yard shooter, and the true realities of hearing voices in your own head. Here are the web (color) and print (b+w) versions.

Thomas Pitilli’s new illustration for The Hollywood Reporter accompanies an article about famous fashion designers focusing more attention on The Emmys as a way of getting their styles out there. Featured are Karl Lagerfeld, Donatella Versace and Marc Jacobs.

Dave Wheeler’s cover illustration the American Cancer Society’s magazine, “Triumph,” consists of a giant 3-D birthday cake celebrating their 100th anniversary and tying in with their slogan, “Creating More Birthdays.”

Nigel Buchanan’s illustration for page one of the New York Times Dining & Wine section accompanies an article by a former food critic on the joy of the “aaaah” moment at a favorite restaurant, rather than the constant hunt for the new “aha!”

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Taylor Callery created an opener and spot illustrations for a Macworld feature that takes an in depth look at the quantitative financial health of Apple through its various products. The four spots cleverly chart the sales of each individual product.

James Yang’s illustration for the Southern Poverty Law Center’s magazine appears in the iPad edition, accompanying an article about the problems Asians have with being perceived as one homogeneous group. On closer inspection, it’s clear how varied the groups are culturally.

Keith Negley’s illustration for The Chronicle of Higher Education accompanies a story about an adjunct professor who briefly gets a full time position and loves it, although his new office leaves much to be desired.

Jason Seiler’s cover for Der Spiegel , done in just two days, is actually comprised of seven distinct portraits. The copy reads, "Slothful, Frustrated, Arrogant – How Non-Voters F@#k Up Democracy"; the concept was to depict characters using their ballots for things other than voting.